Is SmileBASIC Source Dying? (Late 2019)

I'm new people! . Know that SB4 exists in the first place Check! . Be interested enough in the concept to buy it Double check! . Be willing to program in an environment where all of the documentation is in a language you probably don't speak Documentation schocumentation! I got through using F1 quick help, and a side salad of Google Translate's camera functionality. Did me just fine. . Be too impatient to wait for an English release Checking checkcheck! . Create a Japanese Nintendo account I was previously worried about how hard this was going to be, and had avoided it for the previous year or two of Switch ownership. Then this.. so I jumped at the chance. It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought. . Figure out how to put money into said account eShop credits via PlayAsia. Simple! .Be willing to spend 3000 yen on SB4 I bought my eShop credit before knowing how much SB4 was going to be. .. still have 3000 yen sitting there, unused, which I'm going to be using to buy more upload slots. . Understand how the server ticket system works so that you can even upload anything That's really not hard.. . Actually be able to figure it out well enough to even make anything 24 games in 24 weeks. I figured well!! I do own both DS and 3DS editions, so I kinda knew what I was in for, but in both of those cases I never went further than a quick test game. (SpikeDislike in both instances) This time is different, for one rather important reason. Keyboard support.. Good grief, is that a game changer!! Typing with my fingers instead of tapping buttons with a stylus, or pin-pricking the screen with the back of my fingernails!! SO much better.. WAY much so more good be has gets!! Mmmm... Yeah, that's the winner.. that's the winner, right there.

Sometimes I type faster with the SB keyboard and a pen than I do with a regular keyboard lol I check my account here like every other day or so. If somebody asks a programming question I can answer by memory I typically try. It's been a while since I've programmed anything because uni, but it used to be that every small thing I wanted coded real quick I'd just do so SB. It's like my small, fully-customizable, graphing, physics-simulating multitool. I think the community will get bigger and louder once SB4 rolls over to other regions.

. Understand how the server ticket system works so that you can even upload anything That's really not hard..

Well, the problem isn't difficulty so much as... if you only find out after you've already made your game. After all, there's no easy way to transfer programs from one account to another, if you can't upload.

I still use SmileBASIC, albeit on the PC using otya. It's too comfortable and too nostalgic for me to give up.

wow phil_ is alive

Sorry just a random thing: yes I'm very busy but I've been working on a new website for ages and ages. I have no idea if... uhhh it'll be any good lol but yes I'm trying! As I've said from the beginning: I'm going to keep SBS open for as long as there's even anybody using it. I will literally keep it open for just 5 active users. If I can't pay for cloud hosting anymore, I'll just host it at home! It'll be a little slower and sometimes go down for um... a few hours depending on the whim of my internet + power outages, but I'll make sure there's a place for people who want it! Sorry it's so slow these days... I agree with the stuff people said about SB4 and the nicheness and all that. It was already really small to begin with! Even at our height, I think the active user count never went above 150... maybe

That's cool. Thank you for keeping this website up!

mods havent run a new osp contest so i have no motivation this has been the latest snail asking for a osp contest post

*SNIP* 5. Create a Japanese Nintendo account *SNIP

Are we forgetting that several Sonic fans made Japanese Nintendo accounts to download the Sonic Forces demo back in 2017?

mods havent run a new osp contest so i have no motivation this has been the latest snail asking for a osp contest post

Would you participate in an OSP contest run by regular users?

Sonic fans are much more common and also probably crazy lol

Sorry just a random thing: yes I'm very busy but I've been working on a new website for ages and ages. I have no idea if... uhhh it'll be any good lol but yes I'm trying!

Totally understand. For over a decade, my forum (SoCoder.net) ran on a slow ageing script, that I'd hastily cobbled together. For a long time, I was doing little nips and tucks to keep it alive, but it really was getting unwieldy, trying to manage it all. I eventually decided to redo from start, and .. Yeah, it took a while to do! I wish you the best of luck trying to recreate all of this. Don't worry about "the whole site". Just take it in steps and you'll find it comes together just as well as it did before.

Would you participate in an OSP contest run by regular users?

I dont know who i trust to run another proper OSP contest to be quite honest. 12 maybe? Saying myself just makes me look bad. Random is too busy. Plus half of the fun is seeing wacky submissions and a lot of the top contenders have been inactive. Jayenkai however is a relatively skilled and active newcomer that could probably come up with something. Would be fun to see them pick up SB3 and bang out something. Would users come out of hiding/retirement for another prizeless contest? (OSP doesn't really work on SB4 for a multitude of factors, and I've been trying to propose a format change to 512 characters maximum instead of single screen, to work on any SB version)

12 osp 12 osp

Sorry just a random thing: yes I'm very busy but I've been working on a new website for ages and ages. I have no idea if... uhhh it'll be any good lol but yes I'm trying! As I've said from the beginning: I'm going to keep SBS open for as long as there's even anybody using it. I will literally keep it open for just 5 active users. If I can't pay for cloud hosting anymore, I'll just host it at home! It'll be a little slower and sometimes go down for um... a few hours depending on the whim of my internet + power outages, but I'll make sure there's a place for people who want it! Sorry it's so slow these days... I agree with the stuff people said about SB4 and the nicheness and all that. It was already really small to begin with! Even at our height, I think the active user count never went above 150... maybe

omg this almost makes me cry you're so cute randomouse

I'd do an osp.

Jayenkai however is a relatively skilled and active newcomer that could probably come up with something. Would be fun to see them pick up SB3 and bang out something.

Been there, done that, didn't enjoy the onscreen keyboard. https://socoder.net/uploads/1/IMG_7588.jpg

I might host another contest starting on the 25th for a christmas competition. But in the last one, there were 3 actual submittions. More than 3 actually tried. I might even have some challenge, like you can only use one (provided) graphic file for sprites or something. Maybe some inactive users will come out of hiding!

Sorry -snip-

omg this almost makes me cry you're so cute randomouse

Awww thank you!

Totally understand. ... Just take it in steps and you'll find it comes together just as well as it did before.

Ah thanks, I will! I've been trying to just get a "minimum something" out for a while, but whenever I start just "getting something out", it usually makes the code gross. I've been trying to balance the two

I would definitely participate on a OSP or an International Obfuscated SmileBASIC Contest cuz they're fun.

(snip) it usually makes the code gross. I've been trying to balance the two

Yeah... Many of the projects I've started, not just SmileBASIC but also stuff like webdev, and general development, have been dumped into the beautiful folder on my devices called "s*** garden" where they live in limbo until a future me gets to revive them... Programming is mentally hard, and I love it... *cries*